Peter Canellos of the Boston Globe, and editor of a popular biography of Ted Kennedy, says his death nearly two years ago has taken a toll on family unity.

Peter says, “In the wake of Sen. Kennedy’s death, some of the divisions among Kennedy family members have come out into the open in a way that they wouldn’t have if he was still alive.”

“He was this great patriarchal unifying figure, and when there were disputes within the family, he obviously would settle them,” says Canellos. “Now, there is a feeling that each branch of the family is a little bit on its own.”

When Ted Kennedy was alive, he would have joint meetings, reunions periodically during the year for his nieces and nephews, for their children, for the grandchildren’s generation, to give them a sense of what it means to be a Kennedy.

Follow Jon on Twitter
E-Mail Jon Keller
Jon Keller is WBZ-TV News' Political Analyst, and his "Keller At Large" reports on a wide range of topics are regularly featured during WBZ-TV News at 6PM and 11PM. Keller also broadcasts morning dri...

Mikey your comment is so true. There is not a family that does not have its share of problems. I don’t understand the interest in problems faced by other families – or others in general. How sad for those who have nothing happier to focus on.

With great wealth and notoriety comes great responsibility and much worry. These are not ordinary people whose lives are being played out in the public. Much of the media circus is what made them into the “royalty” Americans were familiar with.

I wouldn’t equate the death of Joseph Patrick “Joe” Kennedy, Jr., the assassinations of his two brothers John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy and Robert Francis “Bobby” Kennedy to “royalism.” Tragic and untimely deaths all while serving this country.

I agree, and I used the word “royalty” because the Kennedy family to most Americans were as a royal family. You either loved them, or didn’t. My point was that you cannot live your entire lifetime, and generations after you with a famous name like Kennedy without it being big news. I certainly agree that this family has suffered immense tragedy, and admire their strength to endure.

Large, extended families often often end up having to slice the pie so thinly that some fee that they are not getting a fair or reasonable share. It is a lot easier for 3 or 4 diverse interests to come to agreement than it is for 20 or 25, particularly when it comes to prime real estate and money.

This sort of tension is also fairly common when parents and/or grandparents try to control the descendents and beneficiaries with restrictive covenants in wills and trusts.